Strength Evaluation of Quasi Isotropic Green Composite Laminates Reinforced by Bamboo Fiber

Abstract

In recent years, bamboo fiber obtained by a steam explosion method has shown great performance as reinforcement in polymer based composites. In this study, steam exploded bamboo (SEB) fiber was used as the reinforcing phase in cross ply and quasi isotropic SEB/polylactic acid (PLA) laminates with different stacking sequences. The stacking sequences employed in this study were (0/90)s, (90/0)s, (0/+45/90)s, and (90/+45/0)s. Their tensile strength was characterized as a function of fiber content. Results for cross ply laminates indicated that cross ply (0/90)s and (90/0)s with 63wt.% fibers, increased the tensile strength of the composites, to approximately 6.74 and 7.2 times higher than that of neat PLA resin, respectively. In the other case, quasi isotropic laminates (0/+45/90)s with 53wt.% fibers and (90/+45/0)s with 40wt.% fibers, showed increase in tensile strength of the composites, to approximately 3.4 and 3 times at that produced by pristine PLA, respectively. Simple analysis of back-out factor for cross ply laminates was investigated. Morphological analysis was also carried out to observe fiber pull out of the composites using a digital microscope and SEM to evaluate the interfacial bonding between fiber and resin.